KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia was higher today tracking Wall Street's uptrend ahead of the anticipated US Federal Reserve rate cut next week.
At 10.15am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 7.96 points to 1,646.27 from Thursday's close of 1,638.31.
The index opened at 1,642.63, up 4.32 points.
On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 523 to 220, while 356 counters unchanged. Turnover was at 816.3 million shares.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said market undertone remains cautious following the low daily trading volume as the FBM KLCI ended in negative territory yesterday.
"We reckon foreign funds may have been net sellers over the past two days after consecutive net inflows last week. "As depicted by the low daily volume, market undertone remains cautious but we believe accumulation on stocks to persists hence expect the index to hover within the 1,635 and 1,645 range today," he said.
On US stocks, Thong said Wall Street ended higher attributed to bargain hunting activities particularly on megacap tech names ahead of the highly anticipated Fed rate cut next week. Therefore, he said, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 235 points while the Nasdaq added 174 points with the US 10-year yield climbed marginally higher to 3.68 per cent.
Meanwhile, Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) said that the key index is likely to trade in a cautious mode on the last trading day of the week.
It said that firmer global markets may lend support to local bourses but profit taking may intensify ahead of the long weekend break.
"Next week, key event to monitor is the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. "Technically, we expect the benchmark index to range between 1,630 and 1,650 today, with supports at 1,623 and 1,596," it added.